The Knights of the Founders

Written by J.C. Vascardi

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Disclaimer: All characters and places featured in this story that relates to Harry Potter are the property of J.K. Rowling, various publishers, and Warner Brothers. I'm not profiting from this story and it is not my intent to infringe on anyone's copyright or trademark. The only things about this story that I own are the characters and storylines not featured in the books.

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Chapter Thirty-Four:

The Lordsmeet and New Year's Hookups

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On the morning of Saturday, 28 December 1996 there were many people in Albion and Iwernia who were stoking their fires and adding Warming Charms to their clothes as the day had dawned unseasonably crisp, with the temperatures easily beating the previous record lows. Of course, there were several people who had far more important things on their minds to really care about the temperature. Among that group were the current sitting lords and ladies of the Great Houses.

The Council of the Great Houses, also known as the Concilium Magnus Domos or the Lordsmeet, usually only met for the last two weeks of September and the first two weeks of April. Needless to say, with very few exceptions, the lords and ladies of the Great Houses were all very confused when they received an official summons to attend the Council in the last week of December… something which had never happened previously during any of their tenures—or their immediate predecessor's tenures for that matter—as the heads of their respective houses.

Still, confused or not, it was an official summons which they couldn't ignore. One thing that also drew their attention was the very rarely seen note that formal council dress was required. From reading their family journals, the majority of the lords and ladies were vaguely aware of the fact that the last time formal council dress was required was the mid-1500s. Since then, in the absence of that requirement, they'd simply gotten into the habit of just wearing their best clothes. Tradition, however, had seen each lord or lady making sure to have a set of formal attire meeting the very specific requirements of the council uniform made for themselves upon their ascension to their respective house's headship, even if they'd never worn them beyond the tailor fittings.

Thus, between the unscheduled meeting outside of the normal sessions and the requirement of the uniform, many of the lords and ladies were very curious as to what was going on. This more than anything kept any complaints they may have had at receiving the unexpected summons to a minimum.

Based on the attire once worn by the Knights of the Round Table, the Council's formal uniform consisted of a scarlet robe, or dress for the female heads, covered with a breastplate, the color of which changed depending on the house's affiliation: Light, Light-Leaning, Grey, Dark Leaning, or Dark. The Light Houses wore a white breastplate, the Grey Houses wore silver, and the Dark Houses wore a breastplate of blackened metal. The Light and Dark Leaning Houses, both wore a primarily silver breastplate, only with white or black accents. In the center of each breastplate, a golden dragon, wings spread as if it was about to take flight was emblazoned upon it.

Each lord and lady also wore a floor-length cape in scarlet, with the same golden dragon embroidered upon the back, worn the same way that the formal wizarding robes that Harry and a few others had worn to the Masquerade Ball had been. With one side of the cape over the shoulder of their offhand, with the cape going diagonally across their back so that the other side was under the shoulder of their wand arm.

The neck of each robe, or dress, had a fur collar in solid white, black, or grey for the light, dark, and grey houses, respectively, while the light leaning houses had two-thirds grey fur and one-third white, with the same being true for the dark leaning houses, only with one-third black fur. Each lord and lady also wore a scarlet pointed wizard's hat, with a band just above the brim which matched the color of their breastplates. Each hat had a single feather tucked into the band. A scarlet and gold phoenix feather for the light and light-leaning houses, a golden and silver thunderbird feather for the grey houses, and the green and black feather of an augury for the dark and dark-leaning houses.

Dressed in their formal robes, each lord and lady picked up their summons—which doubled as a time-activated portkey—at the appointed time and were whisked away to the Council Chamber. The chamber was round with high vaulted ceilings, gray stone walls, and a checkerboard black and white marble floor with lines of gold between the marble tiles. Seven large black marble columns topped in white marble with gold accents were interspersed around the room and mounted upon them were black iron braziers which lit the room.

Arranged in a half circle on one side of the room were five large wooden tables, each with seven chairs, one for each of the thirty-five lords or ladies. Each house's seat was located at the same table as the other houses that shared their affiliation.

Each lord and lady moved to take their seats as they arrived. The back of each chair, the wood dark from age, was tall enough that a shield depicting their House coat of arms would be visible above their heads. Additionally, a silk table runner in their traditional colors with their House name and motto embroidered on it was positioned on the table perpendicular to the head each house. As per usual, there were several seats around the tables left empty, as the lines were believed to be extinct.

Because of the recent news out of Hogwarts, however, many of the lords and ladies knew that some of the lines in question were extinct no longer, but so far nobody had arrived to fill them. Of course, this was by design, as Harry had intentionally staggered the arrival times on the official summons so that his fellow heirs would arrive after the other lords and ladies. It was as the last of the older lords and ladies took their seats that the newest members of the Council who were still students at Hogwarts began arriving.

A couple of the older heads grumbled slightly about the late arrivals, figuring that they were being typical teenagers and arriving late. The teenage heads steadfastly ignored any comments of the like that met their ears, however, since they knew they weren't late according to the time given on their summons.

In addition to some grumbling, however, there were some shocked comments when Ernie, Hermione, Ryan, and Nicolas sat in the long empty seats reserved for the Founders of Hogwarts. It was the latter three that were of particular interest, however, as no sooner had they each sat down did a wave of magic wash over the room and a moment later a shimmering magical ghost-like copy of them appeared in the empty seats for the Houses of Peverell, Cromwell, and Delaney.

"I knew about the new Lords Cromwell-Ravenclaw and Delaney-Slytherin," the Lord Corban of House Yaxley spoke up for the whole room to hear. "But what is that mudblood doing here? She surely can't be the head of two magical families."

Raising her hand so that the lordship ring was clearly visible, Hermione said, "The family rings say otherwise, Lord Yaxley. As for how, while I feel absolutely no need to explain myself to you, I'm actually a halfblood, as it turns out my late mother was a daughter of the pureblood Minor House of Wright and my father is descended from a squib line belonging to the Minor House of Granger. The famed potioneer Hector Dagworth-Granger is my fourth cousin, twice removed."

"Both of those Minor Houses are pureblood lines, are they not?" Neville asked as he took his seat in the chair at the Light House table for the House of Longbottom. As the heir of the house and with his father being medically incapable of attending, Neville had little choice but to attend the Lordsmeet in his place.

Despite being almost directly across the room from each other, Neville did his best to avoid looking at the Head of House Lestrange, for obvious reasons. Despite the fact that Lord Rodolphus Lestrange was an escaped convict from Azkaban, he was still in attendance, because convict or not, he was the Lord of House Lestrange and thus unless he was medically incapable of attending, he was required by law to do so. This had held true even when he was still in Azkaban because no Lord or Lady of a Great House could ignore an official council summons.

His presence was likely a sore subject for Lady Amelia of House Bones and Lord Kingsley of House Shacklebolt, but they couldn't do anything about it, because the law was the law. And the Council Chambers were designated neutral ground with powerful magics in place which prevented anybody in it from using offensive or otherwise harmful magic, in addition to making it impossible to arrest any of the occupants.

"They are indeed," Lord Blaise of House Zabini confirmed. "House Wright is one of my sworn vassal houses."

"And House Granger is one of mine," added Lord Fergus of House Urquhart.

Hermione had been slightly put off by the fact that both of the houses she was descended from were the sworn vassals of Dark Leaning Grey Houses, and as such had similar affiliations, although as Merlin explained, that didn't necessarily mean that they were evil. Not even the Dark Houses were necessarily evil, it's just that their houses traditionally used magics that were considered dark. Depending on the use of those magics, however, there was nothing wrong with doing so. In fact, traditionally, the Dark Houses had actually been the spies and enforcers for the Pendragons, operating from the shadows and sometimes doing the jobs that required getting their hands dirty.

Nodding her head, Hermione said, "Indeed, they are, although I remain a halfblood, as my father's Granger line split off from the main Granger line a few generations ago. His mother is a muggle, although there was still enough latent magic in his line that when he met and married my mother, the spark was reactivated with my birth."

A few of the pureblood supremacists looked like they wanted to comment on that, but before they could, a drumroll sounded throughout the room, followed by something which hadn't been heard in the Council Chambers since the last Pendragon monarch, a trumpet fanfare. It was at this point that the twin lecterns in the center of the room from which people could address the council, each moved off to the left and right, and the large circular mosaic between them which had long been thought to be a purely decorative focal point split open to reveal an opening in the floor.

As the fanfare continued to play, the Lords and Ladies of the Great Houses could only watch in curious wonderment as they began to see movement from the opening. It was slow, but as they watched, something began coming up from below and due to the similarity in design to the throne-like chairs they were all seated in, it didn't take long for them to realize what it was. Of course, the throne that was slowly emerging from under the floor was far more impressive than any of the Great House's seats.

Where the thrones of the Great Houses were simple aged wood, with a curved top and small twin finials, this throne looked to be made of red marble with gold accents. A statue of a large lifelike dragon carved from solid gold with giant rubies for eyes and its wings outstretched as if it was about to take flight was perched on the top of it. It wasn't long before a large golden shield depicting the coat of arms of House Emrys appeared, causing quite a few murmured questions since House Emrys was one of the seats at the table for the Grey Houses which remained vacant.

As the throne continued its slow progression upwards, the top of a head became visible, although this wasn't the head of the occupant of the throne, but rather of a man who was standing just behind and to the right of the throne. As more of this person's face became visible, everyone in the room recognized the man as His Eminence the Lord Patrick Blackburn, Archbishop of Anglia, Bishop of Winchester, and the Lord High Priest of Zeus.

Within a few moments of the high priest's shoulders becoming visible, the tops of two other people's heads also became visible. One sitting to the left of the throne and the other in the throne itself. It was as the signature lightning bolt scar on his forehead became visible that everyone realized that it was Harry Potter who was sitting in the throne. Needless to say, this caused quite a few confused murmurs among the occupants of the room. Well, those from Hogwarts remained quiet, as they had mostly already known, but many of the others had not.

It took a few more minutes for the throne and the dais it sat upon to finally stop moving, having completely risen up out of the floor, but once it had, everyone noticed the large golden and jeweled crown, along with a scepter and an orb, sitting on the plush red velvet seat of the golden stool to the right of the throne, behind which Lord Blackburn was standing. In front of the throne was a huge slab of black granite with the golden and jeweled hilt of a sword stuck in it, just enough of the silver blade visible that the letters "E-X-C-A" could be seen engraved upon it in golden letters.

Within seconds of the throne fully rising, a wave of magic washed over the room as magical ghost-like copies of Harry appeared in the seat for House Potter at the Light Leaning Grey table, the seat for House Black at the Dark table, and for House Emrys at the Grey table.

Not giving anyone a chance to comment, however, Harry said in a strong and clear voice, "I, Harrison James Emrys, do hereby claim my birthright as Lord and Head of the Great House of Emrys—conferred upon it in the year Eight Hundred and Ninety-Seven by His Imperial and Royal Majesty King Arthur I Pendragon—to sit upon the throne of the Kingdom of Albion and Iwernia and the Empire of Camelot, as its reigning absolute monarch, so mote it be!"

"You can't be crowned!" the Lord Rodolphus of House Lestrange shouted. "There hasn't been a monarch of Albion in over a thousand years!"

Clearing his throat, the Lord Blackburn said, "On the contrary, Lord Lestrange, he can be. While it is very true that the throne has been vacant since the death of King Arthur in 897, that does nothing to change the legality and magically binding nature of the succession documents signed into law by Arthur before his death which named all legally and magically recognized Lords and Heads of the House of Emrys as heirs to the Crown in perpetuity until the end of time or the permanent and complete extinction of the House of Emrys in both the male and female lines, whichever comes first."

With a nod, Harry said, "And since the House of Emrys's lordship ring has recognized me as Lord and Head of House Emrys, the house is clearly not permanently extinct. As I'm sure you're all aware, if a house ever does go permanently extinct, the ring would automatically destroy itself, as there would no longer be any chance of an heir coming along in the future."

"And since we're here having this conversation," Lord Blackburn added, "it should be obvious that time itself has not ended and thus there is no legal or magical means of preventing Lord Emrys-Potter-Black from claiming the throne."

"What about the marriage clause?" Lady Amelia of House Bones asked. "I will admit that it has been a number of years since I read the laws pertaining to the crowning of a new monarch, as its been so long since the last one and I honestly did not expect that I'd live to see a new one, but if my memory serves it does say that anyone seeking the crown must be married prior to doing so."

"Indeed that was my understanding of the law, as well," Lord Lucius of House Malfoy said.

With a smile, Harry gestured towards Finlay, who was seated on the golden stool to the left of the throne and said, "Allow me to introduce Finlay Douglas McRae-Emrys, the newly installed Lord-Consort of the House Emrys. We were married yesterday."

At this, Lord Albus of House Dumbledore spoke up and said, "I can confirm that they are legally wed. I would know, considering that it was me, in my authority as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, who married them yesterday afternoon at Hogwarts."

Reaching into an inner pocket of his robe, Albus pulled out a vial and a few sheaves of parchment, which he held up and said, "If any of you require further evidence to that fact, here is my memory of the event, a copy of the marriage license—the original of which has already been filed with the appropriate office at the Ministry—and the sworn affidavits of Professors McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick, and Snape who were all witnesses to the blessed event."

"I also witnessed the event personally and can corroborate the statement of Lord Dumbledore that the marriage did indeed occur," Ernie said, before Hermione, Nicolas, and Ryan all chimed in to state for the record that they had also witnessed the event with their own eyes.

Nodding, a satisfied smile on her face, Lady Amelia said, "Well, in that case, I have no objection to Lord Emrys-Potter-Black claiming the throne because as far as I can tell, he has fulfilled every legal requirement."

"Every legal requirement, yes," Lord Tristan of House Nott agreed. "However, there is still the magical requirement that he demonstrate his ability to pull Excalibur from the stone."

"A requirement that I fully intend to demonstrate," Harry said. "However, before I do so, in order to allay any fears that any of you might be harboring about whether this is the real Excalibur and the real stone, I invite any of you who wish to try to remove it to come forward one by one in an orderly fashion and make the attempt."

When Merlin had told him to make this offer, Harry had been leery about it, for fear that somebody else might succeed in actually doing it. Merlin assured him, however, that nobody other than the Lord Emrys would be able to pull the sword from the stone so long as the House Emrys remained extant. It was only after the house's extinction that someone not of Emrys blood would be able to pull the sword, and then only the Lord and Head of the next house in the succession after House Emrys, which was House Flamel, followed by Houses Peverell, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin in that order.

Several of the lords and ladies stood at this point and rounded their respective tables to form a queue to attempt to pull the sword from the stone. In total, eighteen of the thirty-four houses represented—as only House Gaunt was without a representative—decided to make the attempt. As the seats at each table were arranged by order of precedence starting from the middle and going back and forth from left to right, Rodolphus Lestrange was, from the perspective of standing behind the Dark House's table on the right hand side of the chamber, in the rightmost seat which allowed him to be the first to reach the dais.

Once everyone who was going to attempt it had lined up, Harry nodded and said, "The throne recognizes Lord Rodolphus of House Lestrange. You may proceed to make your attempt."

Stepping forward, Rodolphus grasped the hilt of the ancient sword in his hands and pulled upwards with all his might… the sword, however, remained firmly buried in the stone. After two minutes, Harry said, "The throne judges that you have failed, Lord Lestrange, so you may return to your seat."

Lord Lestrange grumbled slightly, but nodded, as he returned to his seat and Harry said to the next person in line, "The throne recognizes Lady Alexandra of House Abbott. You may proceed to make your attempt."

And so the attempts continued with the Lords Callum McKinnon and Lucius Malfoy, then Lady Hermione Granger, and followed by Lords Nicolas Lavoisier-Delaney, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Corban Yaxley, Phillip Parkinson, Malcolm Flint, Nicolas Flamel, Ernie Macmillan, Blaise Zabini, Ryan Cromwell, Tristan Nott, Fergus Urquhart, Caractacus Burke, and finally Amycus Carrow. None of them succeeded.

It should be noted that Hermione, Nicolas, Ernie, and Ryan had only stood and made the attempt because Harry had specifically told them to prior to the Council meeting, as due to the lordships they held, they were all on the high end of the succession and Harry felt that it would be a good idea for them to attempt it, as it was highly likely that it would have seemed strange to the other lords and ladies if they didn't.

Once everyone had returned to their seats, Harry grinned and said, "The throne recognizes Lord Harrison of Houses Emrys, Potter, and Black," as he stood up and took a deep breath as he grasped the hilt of the ancient sword. He wasn't worried about his ability to pull the sword as he'd already done it, since doing so was what had been necessary for the dais holding the throne to be raised up from the Throne Room below the Council Chamber.

What none of the current lords and ladies were actually aware of since the Council Chamber had no windows and all of the visible doors had remained sealed during their entire tenures as the heads of their respective houses, was that the Council Chamber was actually in Castle Camelot, directly above the Throne Room.

Standing up and reaching up above their heads to touch the shield depicting the house coat of arms, each Lord or Lady would be transported to their family's townhouse in Londinium, where they could sleep during the two-week meetings of the Council in April and September. Without a monarch on the throne, however, the Council Chamber had been the only room in the entirety of Castle Camelot that was accessible… at least until Merlin had given Harry the necessary password to Floo into the Throne Room.

Seconds after placing his hands on the hilt, Harry pulled upward and succeeded where the others had failed… surprising those who had tried because they'd each pulled on the sword as hard as they could and it didn't budge, but for Harry, it had looked so simple and effortless as to be compared to pulling a knife from a stick of butter. Holding the sword above his head, where everyone could see it, he said, "I trust this silences any further protest of my birthright?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I quite believe that it does," Lord Garrick of House Ollivander replied, as several other heads throughout the room nodded in agreement.

Sheathing Excalibur in the empty scabbard attached to his belt, the granite stone which had held it sank into the floor and Harry resumed his seat upon the throne. Immediately upon doing so, a wave of magic washed over the room and he said, "The Council is now under imperial and royal dictate and as such, you will not speak unless granted permission by the throne. Now, before I direct Lord Blackburn to administer the Coronation Oath, are there any comments or questions?"

With a nod of his head, Harry said, "The throne recognizes Lady Dorothea of House Rosier," as the woman in question held up her wand and lit the tip of it to indicate that she wished to speak.

"Your Majesty, forgive me, but is it your intention to be crowned today?"

"It is," Harry confirmed.

"With respect, isn't that very short notice?" Dorothea asked. "How can we possibly assemble all of the Imperial Ministers of the Empire, not to mention the royalty of other countries throughout the magical world to attend a Coronation in such a short amount of time?"

"Summoning them is not necessary, Lady Dorothea," Harry answered. "It's a longstanding quirk of the laws of both the Kingdom of Albion and Iwernia and the Empire of Camelot, that a private coronation ceremony can be held with only a quorum of the Lords and Ladies of the Great Houses in attendance."

As Lady Dorothea nodded and resumed her seat, Harry said, "The throne recognizes Lord-Archbishop Patrick of the Priestly House of Blackburn, Lord-High Priest of the Church of Zeus," as the latter lit his wand tip.

"Does Your Majesty intend to hold a public coronation at a later date?" Patrick asked, already knowing the answer but figuring that many of the other lords and ladies would no doubt wish to know themselves.

Nodding, Harry said, "Indeed, I do. There will be a public Coronation with a Coronation Ball to follow, both held in Castle Camelot, on Saturday, 17 August, 1997. Additionally, I would like to take this moment to announce that my husband Finlay and I will have a public royal wedding ceremony on the one-year anniversary of our wedding on Friday, 27 December, 1997."

Pausing briefly, Harry added, "When the invitations for the wedding are sent out, it will be made clear that Finlay's and my wedding is in fact a public vow renewal upon the occasion of our one-year anniversary. And I suppose that I should mention that Finlay will not be my only spouse, as I will be taking at minimum two more, one each to serve as the Lord-Consorts of House Potter and House Black."

Another of the lords lit their wand at this, prompting Harry to say, "The throne recognizes Lord Alistair of House Clearwater."

The grandfather of Dorian, Darius, and Penelope Clearwater stood at this, and asked, "If I may ask, Your Majesty, do you have any idea who your other spouses will be?"

"As many of you who have read the Daily Prophet are no doubt aware," Harry answered, "I am dating Noah Diggory, the stepbrother of the late Hogwarts Triwizard Champion Cedric Diggory. What many of you might not know is that Noah is the current heir presumptive to House Gryffindor until such time that his distant cousin, Lady Hermione, marries and has children of her own."

There were a few nods at this, although whether those nods were about Noah's connection to Cedric or his heir status Harry didn't know. The Daily Prophet hadn't actually published the names of the secondary heirs, being more focused on who the heads of the houses were instead.

"Noah and I have only been dating for about two months now, however," Harry continued. "As such, we felt that a lifetime commitment would be premature at this stage, although we are very much in love and I'm fairly confident that at some point in the future, I will be able to make the announcement that Noah has accepted my proposal to become Lord-Consort Potter."

As Lord Alistair resumed his seat, another wand lit, prompting Harry to say, "The throne recognizes Lady Camellia of House Greengrass."

"Your Majesty, may I ask how it is you met Lord-Consort Emrys?"

"Finlay will be starting at Hogwarts when school resumes after the Winter Break," Harry answered. "He's a sixth-year transfer student from the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the United States. We've been pen-pals since my third year at Hogwarts and over the course of that communication we fell in love, which is what prompted him to transfer to Hogwarts. I would note, however, that he was born here in Albion as a member of the Minor House of McRae, sworn vassal of House Cromwell."

Ryan nodded his head at this, but otherwise remained silent.

"And Mr. Diggory didn't have an issue with sharing you?" Camellia asked.

"No, he didn't," Harry answered. "In fact, Noah and Finlay already knew each other prior to Finlay moving back to Albion, as it turns out he's Noah's mother's godson. As a result, they get along very well and don't mind sharing me in the slightest."

As Camellia resumed her seat, Lucius Malfoy lit his wand, prompting Harry to say, "The throne recognizes Lord Lucius of House Malfoy."

"Your Majesty," Lucius said, with a bow of his head, "as I'm sure you are no doubt aware, my wife the Lady Narcissa Malfoy is a member of House Black by birth." Harry nodded, before Lucius continued. "So I have something of a vested interest in the house that gave me my wife. May I ask what your plans are in regards to a Black consort? I'm assuming it will be a Lord-Consort?"

"You are correct on that, Lord Malfoy," Harry confirmed. "As for the Black consort, I am not actively courting anyone at this time, although I do have my eye on a few potentials." Seeing the calculating look on Lucius's face, Harry was quick to add, "Your son is not one of them, before you ask. And as I have not yet discussed the possibility of courting with the potentials in question yet, I choose not to reveal their identities at this time beyond what I've already said."

There were several nods of understanding at this, as Lucius sat back down and Harry asked, "Are there any more questions about any matters of import that don't involve my personal life?" When nobody lit their wands, Harry nodded and asked, "Very well, let's begin, shall we?"

Standing up and kneeling with his back to the throne, Harry motioned to Lord Blackburn, who asked, "Your Majesty, is it your wish to take the Coronation Oath?"

"It is," Harry replied firmly.

"Very well then," Patrick said. "Sire, will you grant and keep and by your oath confirm to the people of the Kingdom of Albion and Iwernia and the Empire of Camelot the laws and customs given to them by the previous just and gods-fearing kings of the House Pendragon, and especially the laws, customs, and liberties granted to the clergy and the people by your most glorious predecessor, the sainted King Arthur I Pendragon?"

"I grant and promise them, so mote it be."

"Sire, will you in all your judgments, so far as in you lies, preserve to the Gods and Goddesses of the Olympian Pantheon and those of any other Pantheons officially recognized throughout the Empire, and to the people and clergy, entire peace and concord before Zeus, Almighty Ruler of the Gods of Olympus?"

"I will preserve them, so mote it be."

"Sire, will you, so far as in you lies, cause justice to be rendered rightly, impartially, and wisely, in compassion and in truth?"

"I will do so, so mote it be."

Waving his wand and conjuring a small bottle of oil, Patrick put some of it on his fingers, before touching it to Harry's forehead and saying, "As Lord High Priest of Zeus I consecrate this oil in his name and anoint you, Harrison James of the House Emrys, and humbly ask that Zeus Almighty bless and confirm your divine right to rule."

Within moments of Patrick finishing speaking, Harry was bathed in white light as a loud rumble of thunder sounded throughout the room, making a few of the lords jump in surprise.

Putting away his wand, Patrick pulled on a pair of dragon hide gloves, before picking up the Dragon's Claw Orb and the Scepter of the Dragon and handed them to Harry, before he picked up the Imperial Crown of the Golden Dragon, and stood behind Harry as he lowered the crown upon his head and said, "In the name of Zeus Almighty, I crown thee Harrison , First of His Name, of the Imperial and Royal House of Emrys, King of the Kingdom of Albion and Iwernia and Emperor of the Empire of Camelot. By the grace of the gods, long may you reign."

Harry stood as the lords and ladies of the Great Houses, said, "Long may he reign."

Lord Blackburn stepped aside and many noticed that there was still a second circlet sitting on the stool that the crown, orb, and scepter had been lying upon, previously unseen under the crown that was now on Harry's head. Motioning for Finlay to kneel, Harry picked up the golden circlet and holding it over Finlay's head, he said, "In my divine authority as King of the Kingdom of Albion and Iwernia and Emperor of the Empire of Camelot, I crown thee Finlay, First of his Name, King-Consort of the Kingdom of Albion and Iwernia and Emperor-Consort the Empire of Camelot. By the grace of the gods, long may you reign at my side."

-o-0-o-

Three days later, on New Year's Eve, Harry, Cedric, and Noah had just finished lunch and decided to retire to their bedroom in the Emrys Suite to relax for a while before Harry had some meetings that despite the holiday he needed to take. Needless to say, being crowned king had brought a good amount of extra work his way of the variety that didn't really care whether it was a holiday or not.

No sooner did the three young men enter their bedroom, however, did they notice that they were not alone in the room for lying on the bed on his stomach was a golden-haired young man. He didn't look up as the three men entered the room, just continued to casually lounge on the bed, his legs bent at the knee and his feet in the air, his head resting on one of his hands, as the other flipped pages in what Harry recognized as the new photo album of pictures that Harry had started after the return of his parents. He occasionally paused to reach over and grab a grape from a golden platter and pop one into his mouth.

In looking at the man's form, it didn't take long before Harry, Cedric, and Noah realized that the young man was completely naked. Before any of them could comment, the young man, without even looking up at the three newcomers, said, "A butt you could bounce a galleon off of, huh? Gotta say I quite enjoyed that description."

While Harry and Cedric may have been close to pulling out their wands after finding a strange naked man in their bed, that thought had not crossed Noah's mind simply because he'd already met the man in question. With a grin, he asked, "I take it you've come to collect on my debt, Lord Apollo?"

Finally looking up, a grin so brilliant it was almost blinding—fitting for the God of Sun among other things—Apollo asked, "I did say New Year's Eve, did I not? And today is New Year's Eve." After a pause, he said, "Also can I just say that I'm pleased you three decided on the foursome route? I was hoping you would, but didn't want to influence your decision. I wholeheartedly approve, however."

Finding his voice, Harry said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Apollo."

Nodding, Cedric added, "I appreciate your assistance in allowing Noah to leave the Underworld alive."

Still grinning, Apollo said, "Oh it was my pleasure. I suppose Uncle Hades wasn't too happy, but rules are rules and I only did what the rules bid of me after I was asked." Pausing to pop another grape in his mouth, he then added, "And it's a pleasure to meet you too Harry, Cedric. You're both quite handsome and I'm looking forward to our activities. It's been ages since I slept with a hot young king."

Harry couldn't help the blush that crept up his skin at this, as the thought of sleeping with the golden-haired, perfectly tanned, and ripped young man lying on the bed definitely had certain parts of his body reacting. In fact, before Apollo had even said a word, Harry's cock had begun hardening the second he realized that the god was completely naked. It was part of the reason that he hadn't immediately pulled out his wand upon seeing a stranger lying in his bed, as his reaction time was slowed by a lust-induced haze.

After a few moments of silence, Apollo grinned as he snapped his fingers and made the photo album disappear momentarily, only to reappear a second later on the shelf that it had been on. "You three are wearing entirely too much clothing and standing much too far away."

Before any of them could react, they all felt a warm wave of magic wash over them for a second before they found themselves on the bed with Apollo, sans clothing. "Much better."

His eyes dancing over the three naked bodies that had now joined him on the bed, Apollo's grin widened, as he said, "Much, much better. Can I just say that you three are even hotter without clothes on?"

A blushing Cedric decided to be bold and said, "As much as I enjoy the sight of your gorgeous arse, how about letting us see the goods? You've seen ours, so it's only fair."

"Yes, fair is fair," Apollo said, as he shifted on the bed, putting his feet down, before rising into a kneeling position which allowed the three young men to get their first glimpse at the god's muscled chest, eight-pack abs, and most prominently, his rock hard cock, which was unsurprisingly as perfect as the rest of his body.

While Harry, Cedric, and Noah had already been hard before now, seeing the Sun God full frontal had them almost painfully hard and fighting the urge to drool over his perfectly sculpted body and magnificent cock. With a wink and a grin, Apollo asked, "Do you like what you see?"

Three heads nodded all at once, as none of them dared open their mouths at that moment, for fear that they'd end up with chests full of drool. Or squeaky voices as their brains tried and likely failed to form a coherent sentence.

Moving so that he was straddling Harry's legs, Apollo smiled as he leaned down so that his nose was almost touching Harry's as he said, "Well, to start things off, I think some kisses are in order. Wouldn't you agree, Your Majesty?"

Harry's eyes widened slightly, but he nodded, as he tilted his head left and Apollo tilted his right, before their lips met in a kiss that was at first fairly chaste, but quickly ratcheted up on the passion scale by a factor of at least a thousand. Especially after Apollo allowed his midsection to come down against Harry's, an electric sensation spreading to every point of Harry's body as his cock was pressed up next to Apollo's between their stomachs.

Noah and Cedric, lying on either side of Harry and Apollo, just watched the scene before them as their mutual boyfriend—well, husband in Cedric's case—continued to kiss Apollo. After a moment, they both heard the god's voice in their heads, as he said, "You can join in if you like, rather than just watching."

With a grin, Noah moved closer to the kissing pair, before rolling onto his side and moving his left leg so that it was between Harry's and Apollo's legs. Half a second later, he had one hand behind Harry's neck, while the other kneaded the perfect mound of flesh that was Apollo's left arse cheek. Noah's head was also soon nestled into the crook of the god's neck, as he began kissing the perfectly tanned flesh.

Not one to be left out, Cedric soon copied Noah's movement as he rolled onto his side and placed his right leg between Harry's and Apollo's, his knee grazing Noah's as he did so. Running his hand up and down the length of the god's spine his fingers messaging the toned flesh, Cedric moved closer and began to alternate between kissing Harry's cheek and Apollo's, as his other hand found its way into Harry's messy black hair, playing with it in the way he knew drove Harry wild.

After about three minutes, Apollo broke his kiss with Harry in order to kiss Cedric, as Harry turned his head and began kissing Noah. Roughly the same amount of time later, Harry and Apollo switched, with Harry kissing Cedric and Apollo kissing Noah. By this time Apollo's hands had found their way to Cedric's and Noah's arses, which he was alternating between massaging and lightly spanking.

Deciding to switch things up a bit more, Apollo whispered in the heads of the other three a suggestion which had them all grinning, as the god went back to kissing Harry. Only this time, it was a quadruple kiss, with Noah's lips half on Apollo's and half on Harry's on one side, while Cedric's lips were the same on the other side, as their four tongues danced and dueled with one another.

Meanwhile, Apollo used his godly powers to lube up Cedric's and Noah's fingers and his hole, as Cedric and Noah began fingering him, starting with each of them putting one finger inside the god, and gradually working up to two fingers each and then three fingers. They'd both wondered if that would even be possible in their minds, but Apollo assured them it was… maybe it wouldn't work so well on a mortal, but as a god, it wasn't a problem for him.

Breaking the kiss, Harry moaned as Apollo once again thrust his hips downward, pushing his cock against Harry's. "Oh, I'm gonna cum."

"Ah, ah, ah, not yet," Apollo said, as with a single thought, Harry felt himself removed from the brink of cumming.

"Apollo," Harry whined.

Leaning down and kissing the tip of Harry's nose, Apollo said, "Don't whine," before he concentrated for a second and suddenly Harry felt himself orgasming… without ejaculating.

"Oh my god," Harry said, a few minutes later as he felt himself coming down from the orgasmic state that he'd experienced several times with both Cedric and Noah, but never for more than a few seconds and never without ejaculating.

Apollo grinned. "Feel good did it?"

"Hell yeah. How?" Harry asked.

Apollo shrugged. "With practice you can train your body to allow you to have multiple orgasms without ejaculating. The cool part about that is that it's the ejaculation part that makes you feel tired, so if you don't do it, you can have multiple orgasms of varying lengths in the same session without the tired feeling that makes you need to take a break."

"But I've never practiced?" Harry asked. "I didn't even know it was possible."

Apollo grinned. "Well, that's an advantage to having sex with a god. I can use my powers to make the practice portion unnecessary by manipulating the right parts of your body to allow it. If you want to do it when I'm not around, however, you'll need to practice. I can give you some literature if you want."

"Yes, please," Harry said. "But after we're done."

"Of course," Apollo said, as he closed his eyes and simultaneously manipulated Cedric's and Noah's bodies to allow them to orgasm. As they were coming down, Apollo grinned, and said, "Figured it wasn't fair that Harry got to experience it and you didn't."

They both smiled and were about to nod, but before they could, Apollo closed his eyes and sent them both, plus Harry, right back into another orgasm, this time doubling the length of their first ones. This left all three of them crying out variations of, "Oh god, yes!" or "Apollo!" or "This is… bloody amazing."

As they were coming down, Apollo gently pushed Noah and Cedric onto their backs and moved off of Harry, as he said, "Well, I think that's enough foreplay… time to move on to the main event."

Harry, Noah, and Cedric all shared a look at this because they'd each had two orgasms and Apollo was saying that was only the foreplay? None of them were complaining, mind you, as this encounter was quickly shaping up to be the best of their lives.

"Hmm, let's see here," Apollo said as he sat back and stroked his chin, "How shall we do this?" After another minute, he grinned and said, "I know. Harry, Cedric, move so that you're lying flat on your backs in opposite directions. Harry, put your legs on top of Cedric's. I want you to position yourselves so that your cocks are touching."

Once they'd moved into the position that Apollo had directed, the god used his powers to apply more lube to their cocks and his hole, making both of their eyes widen as Cedric, asked, "You're not… going to take both of them at once are you?"

Apollo grinned. "Actually that's exactly what I'm going to do," as Apollo directed Harry and Cedric to sit up, each with one arm out behind them bracing themselves on the bed, while bringing their other arms together and grasping each other's forearms. A moment later, Apollo moved so that his back was facing their joined arms and then placing one hand each on their shoulders, he grinned at Noah and said, "Take hold of their cocks and guide them in as I sit on them would you?"

"Um, okay," Noah said, as he did as the god asked. He'd read about double penetration in one of the sex manuals he'd secretly bought from Tomes and Scrolls during the Hogsmeade weekend after the Masquerade Ball—along with the spells which made it easier for wizards to do than it was for muggles—but he'd never worked up the guts to ask Harry and Cedric to try it with him. He was definitely glad, however, that he was seventeen and thus could now access the magically protected adult section of the store.

It took a few tries, but soon Noah found the right angle and Harry and Cedric were both moaning as the muscles of Apollo's arse enveloped their cocks, pushing them together in a cocoon of warmth. Kissing first Harry and then Cedric, Apollo asked, "Feel good?"

"Yes," Cedric moaned at the same time that Harry moaned, "Hell yes," after which Cedric added, "So tight," which prompted Harry to nod in agreement.

Apollo grinned, "Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it as much as I am," before he looked at Noah and said, "Of course, what would make this even better is if you'd ride me while your boyfriends fuck me."

"I think that can be arranged," Noah said with a grin of his own, as he moved so that he was straddling Apollo's outstretched legs. He then leaned forward and placed a kiss on the god's lips, as he guided the god's lubed cock inside of him.

What followed was, much to the utter disbelief of Harry, Cedric, and Noah, three straight hours of sex, during which time all four of them hit multiple orgasms of several minutes each, before finally, mercifully, Apollo allowed them all to cum, as Harry and Cedric shot their loads inside of Apollo, the god inside of Noah, and Noah's cock sprayed his and Apollo's stomachs and chests.

When it was all over and the four of them were lying in each other's arms trying to relax and catch their breath from the experience, Harry said, "That was mind-blowing."

"Yes, that was the best sex I've ever had," Cedric said. "And I thought I'd had some damn good sex before."

Noah nodded. "So did I. Damn it Apollo, I think you've spoiled us."

"Yeah, after this, I just don't see how anything else is ever going to measure up," Harry said.

"Oh don't worry," Apollo said. "If you follow the literature I give you and practice, you'll be able to reach the heights I helped you with today on your own."

After a few minutes, he said, "Of course, I've gotta say, I wouldn't be opposed to a repeat performance of today. I hadn't planned on this becoming a recurring thing, but if you guys would like it to…"

"Oh hell yes!" Noah, Harry, and Cedric said in perfect unison, making the god grin, as he said, "Okay then, well, I'll have to drop in occasionally then. For now though, why don't you three get some sleep? I'd join you but as a god I don't really need much sleep and I should get going as I've got other things I should be doing, not the least of which is setting the sun. So later lovers."

After Apollo was gone, none of them spoke for several minutes, before Cedric said, "Noah, bro, if I haven't said it before, thank you for going to the Underworld. Not just for bringing me back, but for choosing Apollo as your champion to get out of it."

"Yes, Noah, thank you," Harry said, as he grinned and mimicked his words from the day he'd found out about Noah's adventure. "Best boyfriend ever!"

Noah grinned. "Thanks guys," before he yawned and said, "But now I definitely need a nap."

The other two nodded and it wasn't long before all three of them were well on their way to dreamland… and reliving the last several hours in their dreams.

-o-0-o-

To be continued…

And there you have Ch34 of 'Knights of the Founders'. I hope you enjoyed it.

So, Harry is crowned, and Noah's debt to Apollo is paid, as the year 1996 comes to a close. What new adventures await in 1997 for the Harry/Cedric/Noah trio? And how long will it stay a trio? Well, stay tuned.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? I love hearing from my readers, so feel free to contact me in a review, by email (Gmail: jaycolin25), my LiveJournal (jaycolin), my Yahoo group (storiesbyjayson), or on Twitter JVascardi. Alternatively, you can also try to contact me via Skype (text messaging only) at .